2. Love wandered the NBA’s wilderness for seven years before clinching his first playoff berth Friday night. Irving and Thompson spent the last four seasons playing for the worst team in the league, piling up losses faster than points and paychecks.

CLEVELAND: LeBron James fought a head cold to score 11 straight points in the fourth quarter and 13 of 15 overall for the Cavs, who fended off the pesky Indiana Pacers 95-92 Friday night.

James was sick enough to miss the team’s morning shootaround, leaving him a game-time decision. He played through it to finish with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists on a night the Cavs needed all of it to fend off a potential future playoff opponent.

The Pacers began the night tied with the Boston Celtics for the final playoff spot in the East and a 2-7 matchup between the Cavs and Pacers remains entirely possible. The Pacers have already beaten the Cavs twice this season and were trying to become just the second team (joining the Atlanta Hawks) to beat the Cavs three times this season. Instead the Cavs ran their home winning streak to 15 games while maintaining their hold on second place in the East.

The Cavs led 93-92 when George Hill missed a 3-pointer in the final minute, but a sloppy possession in the closing seconds left James forcing a deep 3-pointer just to beat the shot clock. James missed, but Iman Shumpert chased down the rebound and made both free throws after the Pacers were forced to foul.

Cavs star LeBron James missed Friday morning's shootaround due to illness and is questionable for the 7:30 p.m. home game against the Indiana Pacers, the team said.

The Cavs are 2-9 this season without James. The last game James missed came Feb. 27 against the Pacers, when he was rested in a 93-86 loss. Kyrie Irving also was sidelined in that game due to a shoulder injury.

James is averaging 25.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists as he tries to make a late push for his fifth league MVP award.

The Cavs have won 14 consecutive games at Quicken Loans Arena and are outscoring opponents by an average of 16.4 points during the string. The game was thought to be a preview of a possible first-round playoff matchup, but the Pacers come in on a three-game losing streak.

CLEVELAND: Twenty-six thoughts for 26 first-quarter Brooklyn points in a 117-92 win over the Nets…

1. After 12 years, two titles and four Most Valuable Player trophies, there isn’t much left to nitpick about LeBron James’ game. But fans (and some of those in the league) have been frustrated with his unwillingness to play in the post. He’ll do it more now than he did early in his career and he showed Wednesday how devastating he can be in the right situations.

2. The Cavs have gone small a fair amount this season with great success. It happened again Wednesday when the Cavs opened the second quarter with Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to spread the floor, James in the post and Tristan Thompson at center.

CLEVELAND – Kevin Love returned from a two-game absence with 10 points and 11 rebounds and the Cavaliers recovered from a sluggish start to easily handle the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night 117-92.

LeBron James had 16 points and seven assists and Kyrie Irving had 12 points and 10 assists for the Cavs, who made 15 3-pointers and had seven players in double figures in scoring. The Cavs committed six turnovers within the game’s first five minutes, allowing the Nets to race out to 22-9 lead. But the Cavs scored 30 of the game’s next 38 points to take command in winning their 14th consecutive home game. It’s their longest home streak since the 2008-09 season when they won 16 straight at home.

Guard J.R. Smith scored 17 points, including 14 in the second quarter, while Timofey Mozgov had 17 points, including 12 in the third. The Cavs maintain their grip on the second seed in the East and improved to an NBA-best 25-6 since Jan. 15.

The Cavs have overhauled their roster, but Nets coach Lionel Hollins simplified the changes in this team and the team prior to Jan. 15.

INDEPENDENCE: Kevin Love will return to the court tonight when the Cavaliers host the Brooklyn Nets after missing the last two games to rest.

Love conceded over the weekend his back tightened up on him during Thursday’s overtime win against the Spurs. He missed games at Orlando and Miami, but was adamant Wednesday the time off was not related to injury.

“Me resting had nothing to do with my back,” Love said. “Just rest. Coach approached me, knew I was playing heavy minutes, just came to me and asked if I would sit a game or two. That’s all it was.”

That conflicts with an ESPN report that Love approached David Blatt and asked for the extra night off. Regardless, Love is ready to play again. He has missed five games this season: Two for his back, one for an eye injury and the latest two to rest.

2. David Blatt has coached in countless playoff and tournament-style games, but not in the NBA. It stands to reason he’d like home-court advantage as long as possible and reaching the second seed would assure the Cavs home-court advantage in the first two rounds. So Blatt conceded Monday what the rest of us already figured.

MIAMI: Maybe LeBron James should’ve just taken the night off after all. The Cavs can’t seem to win in Miami with or without him.

James had 26 points – 16 in the fourth quarter – and the Cavs were never really competitive in what became a 106-92 loss Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena, their ninth consecutive loss in this building. The Cavs haven’t beaten the Heat in Miami since 2010 when James was serving his first tour with the team.

Monday’s loss was a disappointing conclusion to an otherwise successful trip. This was the final stop on the four-game swing through Texas and Florida and it was the second night of a back-to-back, although the Cavs did have two days off prior to playing the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

They were again without Kevin Love, who missed his second game in as many nights to rest. He likely wouldn’t have made much difference on a night the Heat led by as many as 25 and dominated from the opening tip. The Cavs pulled within 12 a couple times in the game’s final minutes, but were never a threat to tie the game or force overtime.